Dear Friends (who are against alcohol), why have we lost this property of us called Tolerance. If we don't drink, we don't have to curse people who do. So selling it dont really matter to us. We cant force something just because we don't do it. We don't like the same if another culture/society does to us. So ?

Let us all grow up as wise men and women, accept the fact that Unity is Strength, and that Peace shall only thrive when we have Respect towards all Cultures and Religions.

@ Nirsly, Qatari, Salwa. Great thinking guys. So once Gas has gone and Qatar has to stand on its own two feet as an economy, you seriously want to be banning something that is part of every other culture on the planet? Forget 'westerners' if you like, we're useless drunks apparently anyway, but the Chinese, Indians, Russians, Japanese, Brazilians etc all drink and it's just a part of all of our cultures. Not alcoholics, it's just everyday life and by and large we won't be keen to visit a country that forbids it. This will apply to those that dont drink as well, because people naturally like to be amongst there own. You push the majority away, the minority follow.

@ OzM, why do you whine and fret when you and your ilk are reminded that you are just guests in Qatar or the UAE or the whole Gulf for this matter and a guest must always conduct and comport himself in a more dignified and graceful manner abroad than he would have been if he was back home. Before trying to set in order your neighbor's house, why don't you fix your own which is in shambles? May be if you directed some of your frustrations towards your own countries then may be, just may be your countries can just try to aspire to be like the Gulf, just may be!!! I suggest you enjoy your fleeting days in the Gulf and swallow your bitterness or better direct it towards your countries. Peace!

I am staggered by some of the hypocritical comments being made here! Ban alchohol by all means if that is your religious belief but the revenue your governments would loose in taxation would be substantial.
If you are so concerned about the behaviour of expats in your country then lobby your governments to have those currently there deported and ban all future workers/visitors and carry out the work yourselves. See how long it lasts before you are begging people to return and get you out of the mire!
As someone said previously criticism is not handled we'll in this region.

@Nirsly. I wouldn't really bother about these alcohol-obsessed, melodramatic comments. The sad reality is that a lot of our guests here need alcohol to drown their sorrows and forget their miserable lives back home. Poor things.
Let them whine and fret. What else are they going to do? We all know they don't want to leave. They like it here, even if they act so high and mighty. One should feel sorry for them. They need their daily doses. You should see how they act when they get drunk in hotels and during Friday brunches. Very distinguished, elegant lot!

Doug
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 3:27 PM
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UAE

And the irony is that the drunken behaviour I've seen in Friday brunches is far worse than anything I've ever seen in Europe. There isn't a bar in Britain that would offer a flat-rate all you can drink offer - the police wouldn't allow it.

The issue is that alcohol doesn't have to be an all or nothing legal issue. There would be nothing wrong with encouraging those who drink alcohol to drink it responsibly - indeed, in the UK, you cannot advertise alcohol without a message to consume it responsibly. However, in this region where alcohol is considered fundamentally not up for discussion, the result is there is actually LESS alcohol control here than in Europe because to encourage responsible consumption would be seen as encouraging consumption. If Pearl-Qatar wants to ban alcohol, fine - but given this is an intrinsic part of a restaurant's business model (ie. profit on alcohol), this should have been made clear in the original contract.

OzM
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 3:24 PM
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Dubai

@Nirsly @WHJ
As usual taking any opportunity to display your own brand of whinning, biggotry, presumptions and insecurity. You never let the opportunity pass, on these pages, to try and insult and belittle those who are here building your countries, advising your governments, implementing systems and infrstructure projects, cleaning your houses. Most are perfectly ordinary reasonable people. Why are they all here instead of your countrymen doing the jobs.

1) bigoted expats who constantly insult our culture
2) ignorant expats who don't know anything about our culture, language and religion
3) ungrateful expats who don't appreciate the life they have in our land
4) presumptuous expats who see one of us and assume we're all the same
5) nosy expats with nothing better to do than criticize us and try to teach us what is permitted in our religion

How much time you got?

Doug
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 8:40 PM
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UAE

@Qatari - sorry if you felt I was trying to teach you how to do politics. Given that other nations in this part of the world (Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia etc) all have had incidences where the public have made their grievances known to the government made me rashly and dangerously assume that the idea of doing something like this wasn't alien or different for Arabs or Muslims. Ensuring that your country has a legal framework and laws that suit the population isn't exactly a Western only thing, nor is suggesting you do this a case of me enforcing another culture on you.

If it is the will of Qataris to ban alcohol, why not ensure the government does this? You either make the government ban booze, or you accept the government knows better than you, in which case you have to accept the legality of alcohol if that's the government's wish. Which is it to be? You can't have it both ways!

KKKK
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 6:37 PM
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Germany

What do you mean by culture, please list a few items.

Qatari
Wednesday, 16 January 2013 4:30 PM
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Qatar

@Nirsly, that's a fantastic list. It's exactly what they are.

@Doug, I think your number 3 and 5 on that list, except it's not religion this time. It's lesson 2, "Politics". Oh the irony, same people who demand us to accept other cultures are trying to enforce theirs.

Doug
Tuesday, 15 January 2013 8:33 PM
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UAE

If it makes you angry, why not channel that anger into something useful, like petitioning your government or electing a representative to reflect your views in government decision-making? Simply whining at expats in the comments section of a website isn't going to make things any better for you.